Lady Draco's Revenge
by Feral2K
Summary: On a routine expedition for Princess Celestia, Twilight Sparkle finds an enemy that even she and her friends may not be able to defeat.
1. Chapter 1

My Little Pony and all characters contained therein are the property of the Hasbro Corporation.

**Lady Draco's Revenge**

Chapter One

"Come on, Spike. I think you can handle a few days without me around, right?"

Twilight Sparkle was busy packing some things for a short expedition she was undertaking for Princess Celestia; she'd jumped at the chance to help her mentor in any way she could. Spike, the little dragon that was her assistant and friend, was helping her pack, though he seemed kind of mopey and wishy-washy about it. It probably had something to do with the fact that Princess Celestia had requested that Twilight be accompanied by a member of the Royal Guard instead of Spike, and she was trying to cheer him up; it wasn't working.

"I guess. I just want to be with you when you discover whatever you're going to the Stoneshard Mountains to find."

"Look, I want you with me too." Twilight cinched up the last strap on her backpack and turned to face Spike. "But Princess Celestia asked me to take Reginius with me instead, and there was really nothing I could say."

"Great, so you get to go off with some stuffy full-of-himself guard, and I get stuck here by myself."

"You won't be all by yourself. Fluttershy said she'd be happy to have you stay with her while I'm gone, and I'm sure everyone else will let you help them out until I get back. Besides, I'll be back before you know it."

"Yeah, but . . . what about the worgs? They're all through the Stoneshard Mountains; what if you run into a pack of them?"

"Please, Spike. The worgs are scared of ponies. We'll have no problems with them, trust me." She nuzzled Spike goodbye before heading to the door. "I'll be back by the end of the week. Behave yourself."

And with that, Twilight walked out of the Ponyville Library and stepped onto the chariot that would take her to the foot of the Stoneshard Mountains. She certainly had no idea what she would find there, but that was part of the fun.

"You're late. You were supposed to be here half an hour ago."

Twilight rolled her eyes. She remembered Reginius from back when she lived in Canterlot and, if this was a good example of how he was going to act, he hadn't changed a bit. A pegasus with a fetish for punctuality, Reginius wasn't really someone she wanted to spend a week with; she'd had a few bad experiences with his ridiculous rules and curfews in her day. But Princess Celestia had asked her to take him with her, and she wouldn't have felt right about saying no to her. She used her magic to pull a map out of her pack and checked it, trying to make a plan for their survey.

"I _said_-"

"I heard you. I just had to say goodbye to some friends back home, and it took a little longer than I thought. Now, what exactly are we looking for? Princess Celestia was a little sketchy on the details."

"We're looking for a temple deep within the range. It's an important historical find, and I have to babysit you while you look for it."

"Babysit? That seems a little harsh. I mean, I'm sorry that you don't want to come along, but you don't have to take it out on me."

"Let's just get this over with. I have more important things to do back at the palace."

Twilight shook off Reginius' bad mood and started up the path carved through the lower mountains, using the map as a guide. It was still pretty early in the day, and she wanted to find the temple as soon as possible so she could get back home. After about an hour she called a break; she stopped at a nearby stream to get a drink, while Reginius scouted ahead from the air. She stopped drinking for a minute, only to find that the sounds of someone lapping up the water weren't going away. She looked up . . . . and found herself looking at a creature she'd only ever read about.

The worg, which was about her size, looked like a cross between a wolf and those "hyena" creatures Zecora had shown her pictures of. This one had reddish-orange highlights running through its grimy and matted fur, which blended with the spots and grey fur that dominated the rest of its body. This one looked like it was nothing more than skin and bones; the way it was standing suggested that it was pretty weak from hunger. Twilight cleared her throat, and the worg practically jumped out of its skin.

"Wait, don't run! Are you hungry?"

The worg looked around cautiously before slowly padding up to her. Twilight pulled an apple out of her pack and set it on the ground in front of the worg, which slowly bit into it. After an initial chew it lunged forward, practically swallowing the whole thing in one bite. Twilight decided to ask the worg a few questions, pulling out a journal and quill to document her conversation.

"So, what's your name, uh . . . actually, first question, are you a boy or a girl?"

"I am Ripjaw." The worg seemed to be looking around for more apples, though it came up empty. "I am a proud warrior of the Eastern Passes tribe!"

"The Eastern Passes . . . " Twilight pulled out her map and checked it. "That's nowhere near here. Are you lost, Ripjaw?"

"I am not _lost_. I am hunting for food. There is little of it in the Eastern Passes, and our warriors have been sent far and wide to find more of it."

"That's terrible. Here, I have some extra with me. Do you like bread?"

Twilight pulled a roll out of her supplies and put it down in front of Ripjaw. He sniffed it carefully before wolfing it down. Twilight picked up her journal and quill, ready to continue her interview, when flapping wings heralded the return of Reginius. He wasn't happy.

"What is that monster doing here? Leave, now!"

Ripjaw snarled up at Reginius, ready to fight him despite his weakened state. Twilight realized that she had to stop the two of them from tearing each other apart. All of a sudden she had a brilliant idea.

"Wait, he's, um . . . he's our guide!"

"What?"

"What?"

"Y-yeah. Ripjaw is going to guide us through the mountains, and I'll give him some of my food. Isn't that right?"

"Oh, right, yes. I will guide, and she will feed me what she can. That was the deal."

Reginius didn't look any happier than he had when he'd first seen Ripjaw, but he could tell that Twilight would fight him if he tried to overrule her decision. Snorting in frustration, he landed and glared at the worg. Twilight, on the other hand, stashed her journal and decided to ask Ripjaw if he knew anything about old temples in the mountains.

"We're looking for an old temple built by ponies. That's about all I have to go on; I know it's not much, but-"

"I know where one is. We worgs don't go near it, but I can get you close and wait for you. It'll take a couple of days to get there though."

"Perfect! This should give me plenty of time to find out more about your kind. Let's go!"

Twilight woke with a start in the earliest hours of the morning. She'd been reviewing her journal, with all of the information she'd gotten from Ripjaw about worgs; she might even write a book about them when this was all said and done. She hadn't realized how tired she was, but the fact that she'd been jerked out of a sound sleep was a little weird. She looked around, wondering what had woken her up like that. It wasn't Ripjaw; he liked to wander off late at night and early in the morning to try and scrounge up some meat to supplement the fruits and grains Twilight was giving him. She was about to stand up when a wing landed on her back. Reginius was lying next to her, staring off to his left. Twilight followed his gaze and was confused at what she saw.

The creature could have been a worg at one point, but that point had been a long time ago. The creature was easily bigger than Princess Celestia at the shoulder, and was significantly longer; a good chunk of this extra length was its long scaly tail, which was tipped with a large knot of bone. Its fur stopped about halfway down its forelegs, leaving its limbs scaly and taloned. Its eyes were solid red, and its mouth was now a massive cluster of teeth that took up a preposterous amount of its head. The nightmare worg was flanked by two smaller, normal worgs; both of them seemed to be much better fed than Ripjaw, and were making a point of staying out of the creature's direct line of sight.

"What-?"

"Shhh! If it hears us we're dead!"

Twilight heard something rustling up through the weeds next to her; fortunately it was only Ripjaw, who had obviously smelled the monster and came in silent. They watched as the behemoth stalked off, followed by its miniature companions. Twilight stood up as soon as she was given the signal, heading over to study the massive paw print left in the ground by the creature. Ripjaw was slow to approach the area where the creature had stood; Reginius sneered at him as he walked right up to the print.

"What _was_ that? It looked more like a dragon than a worg."

"Those creatures are abominations." Ripjaw was edging around the clearing, unwilling to get any closer to the monster's trail than he had to. "No one in my tribe knows how they come about, but some of the other tribes use them as weapons in our fights for food."

"Maybe you should learn how to get your filthy paws on some. That thing looked like it could do some serious damage."

"You sound like you _admire_ that beast, Reginius. It's kind of scary."

"I'm a soldier, kid. I admire any kind of war machine, especially the living ones."

"Perhaps you will admire them less when the united tribes turn those monsters loose on your decadent kingdom. If the Eastern Passes tribe is swayed or destroyed, it may very well happen."

"United tribes? I thought you said the worgs hated working with each other."

"Something deep in the mountains whispers to the chiefs, urging them to fight the ponies instead of each other. We all resent the ponies for forcing us to fight each other for survival, and some tribes have started combining forces to convert the rest of the tribes to their way of thinking. I am one of the few that sees this as an unnecessary fight, though my allies are starting to fall one by one."

"Wait a minute. Are you . . . the chief of your tribe?"

"Impossible!" Reginius laughed practically in Twilight's face. "A worg chieftain wouldn't be something as scrawny and pathetic as this weakling is. Him, a chief. Ha!"

"You are like the rest of your kind, foolish and shallow!" Ripjaw seemed furious at Reginius, who was acting very unlike himself. "I _am_ chief of the Eastern Passes tribe! I had left my people to seek an audience with your princess, to warn her about the united tribes and ask for her help! What do you think of that, pegasus?"

"You were coming to warn us?" Twilight was confused. "I thought worgs hated ponies too much to do something like that."

"Most of my people do, but some of us are more open-minded. I think we should head back to your princess' home; I fear the monster and its companions were headed to the temple you seek. It is no longer safe for you to be here."

"Nonsense!" Reginius held his head high as he spoke. "We were told to explore the temple, and that is exactly what we are going to do!"

"I don't think-"

"I think _I_, a professional soldier, am a better judge of danger than some flea-bitten mongrel. Lead on, mangy."

Twilight and Ripjaw looked at each other. It was clear that Reginius wasn't going to let up on this. It was also clear that he could easily defeat them in single combat, should they decide not to follow. The way he was acting now, it seemed likely that he would resort to violence to get them to come around. Despite their better judgment, both of them decided to head onward to the temple. All they had to do was figure out where to mark it on the map, right?

The temple was probably impressive at one point, but the years had not been kind. Only the stumps of legs were left on the statues that had once flanked the entrance, and the carvings on the outer walls had been eroded into formless shapes. Claw marks had damaged most of the standing stone structures; they had probably been left by the worgs that seemed to be guarding the entrance. Most of them were normal, but at least two were of the scaly monster variety. All in all, it didn't look like they would be getting in anytime soon.

"Okay, I've got the position marked on the map. It's obviously going to be impossible to explore the inside, so what say we leave and let Ripjaw get his chance to talk to Princess Celestia, huh?"

"I've got a different idea." And with that, Reginius stood up and started walking right up to the entrance.

"What are you doing? They'll-"

"Hail there boys! You miss me?"

Reginius' arrival did not have the effect Twilight had expected. Instead of the worgs ripping him to shreds, they walked up to him calmly, greeting him as an old friend. Twilight was about to sneak away with Ripjaw in tow when a growl came from behind them. Both of them found themselves staring into the fang-filled maw of one of the monster worgs. With their retreat cut off, they slowly walked out in the open, where they were surrounded by other worgs. Twilight saw Reginius in the center of the pack and couldn't help herself.

"You traitor! I thought you were loyal to Princess Celestia!"

"Why would you . . . oh, you still think I'm the loser who usually uses this body!" Reginius laughed, a harsh sound that was picked up by his furry cohorts. "Follow me inside, and I'll show you just how wrong you are."

With no choice, Twilight and Ripjaw marched through the entrance of the temple. Unlike its desecrated exterior, the inside was clean and well-lit. The carvings on the walls were a little disturbing; most of them featured images of Discord causing natural disasters or fighting other creatures. Twilight finally decided to just stare straight ahead, so she didn't have to look at the walls. They finally got to a large chamber with an open ceiling; while it didn't have the carvings on the walls, all the support pillars were carved in Discord's image. Lying in the center of the room, surrounded by serious-looking worgs, was the body of a unicorn. Reginius chuckled when he saw it.

"Right where I left it. Okay boys, ready the chains!"

Two worgs used their mouths to clap a metal collar on Reginius' neck; chains on either side of his neck were attached to a pair of nearby stones, clearly meant to hold victims in place. Reginius closed his eyes, and a gray mist seeped out of his mouth and nose. The mist drifted to the unicorn, shooting into his mouth as though the body had taken a deep breath. As Reginius' body slumped into unconsciousness the unicorn stood up, letting Twilight get a good look at him.

The unicorn's body hair was matted and grimy, like it hadn't been washed in a while, and covered a body that was lean enough to show ribs through the skin. His mane, which was the same dirty gray as his body, was greasy and stringy. One of his rear legs looked stiff; as he walked towards her, she noticed that it didn't bend at all, giving him a noticeable limp. He got right up to her face, and she saw that his left eye was milky white and blind. Completing the picture of pitiable ugliness was his horn, which was short, and chipped in several places. Almost insultingly, his Cutie Mark was a mirror. She wanted to feel bad for him, but the look in his good eye was a clear warning not to. He studied her for a minute before moving over to Ripjaw. If anything, he looked angrier at Ripjaw for some reason. He was about to say something when a strong female voice sounded from the shadowy gallery above.

"Come on now, Envy, these are our guests. Why don't you introduce me to them?"

The unicorn sighed, and then gestured for Twilight and Ripjaw to follow him. It was slow going; Envy didn't want his prisoners getting ahead of him, and his limp slowed him down considerably. When they got to the gallery Envy shoved his way through the purple curtains hanging over the doorway. The female that had spoken was still in the shadows, though Twilight could see that she was a tall pony with a horn; with the poor visibility she couldn't tell if she was a unicorn or an alicorn. She was easily the size of Princess Celestia, which made her suspect that she might be an alicorn. Envy glared at the two of them; he gave them a command in a voice that could only be described as damaged.

"Kneel when in the presence of Lady Draco!"

"That won't be necessary. Please, have a seat and tell me who you are. You, the unicorn, you go first."

"My name is Twilight Sparkle, favored student of Princess Celestia. I-"

"One of little Cellie's students, huh?" Lady Draco seemed amused by this. "No doubt she didn't tell you I was here. Now you, the worg. What's your name, little guy?"

"I am Ripjaw, chieftain of the Eastern Passes tribe."

"That explains why your people were so eager to join Envy after being so resistant for so long. Seems you were the only thing keeping them from realizing their destiny with me."

Ripjaw was about to surge forward when a silken rope sprang up and wrapped itself around his legs, binding him in place. Lady Draco stepped out into the light for the first time, and Twilight was stunned at what she saw.

Lady Draco was obviously at least half-alicorn, but the other half was something else entirely. Her body was covered in green scales instead of hair, scales that extended down the long lizard tail she had in place of a pony's tail. Her "mane" was a line of spines running from her forehead and down her back; a thin web of skin ran between the spines to create a frill. Her wings were not feathered but instead large dragon wings, and her mouth was full of fangs instead of proper teeth; her Cutie Mark might have been a dragon, but it was stylized and not easily identifiable. Twilight felt a little nauseous when she saw this and hoped she didn't get sick all over Lady Draco, afraid that doing that would get her killed. Lady Draco didn't seem to notice, instead focusing on Ripjaw.

"You have no one left on the outside. I offer you the chance to survive. I'll even let you be in charge of your tribe again, though you will have to listen to Envy. If you don't agree, I'll have no choice but to let my dracoworgs hunt you down in the mountains. Do we have a deal?"

"Spare the unicorn, and I will accept your offer." Ripjaw didn't look happy. "I must look after my people, even if it means working with a monster like you."

"Splendid!" Lady Draco didn't seem the least bit phased by the fact that Ripjaw had insulted her to her face. "Envy, show the chief to his people. As for you, young Twilight Sparkle, I would like to have you here for a little while longer. One of the worgs will show you to a room you can sleep in. I'll be seeing you!"

And with that, Twilight Sparkle was escorted away from her host, scared and confused about what was going to happen to her.

It had been two days, and Twilight was getting a little worried. She hadn't been allowed to leave her room the whole time, though her host had sent food and reading material to her from time to time. Most of the books were history books, though they were written as though the writer thought Discord was a benevolent god. She realized that, at this point, she wasn't going to be getting back home in a week like she'd promised Spike. She sighed and decided to try and reread the book on the alicorn-dragon wars; before she could open it, a worg slipped in with a note clenched between its jaws. She opened it and read an invitation from Lady Draco. It seemed she wanted to give her a tour of the temple before sending her home. Holding her head high Twilight left her room, flanked by the two worgs that had been guarding her door for the past two days.

Lady Draco was waiting for Twilight in what had to be one of the most impressive libraries Twilight had ever seen, eagerly greeting her with that eerily chipper attitude that made Twilight's skin crawl. She gave Twilight a fang-baring grin before setting off with Twilight in tow.

"Did you read the books I sent you?"

"Yeah, but they weren't really useful. The author was horribly inaccurate with a lot of details, and they were all praising Discord like he was the greatest thing in Equestria."

"Yes well, Sloth has always been a bit of a shill for her faith. The point is, you read all that was there on the dragon-alicorn conflicts, yes? The thing is, no one seems to mention me in any of those books. It's disappointing."

"Why would they-"

"Back in those days, the alicorns and the dragons simply _despised_ each other. Equestria was being turned into a wasteland, and the other ponies were terrified of what was going to happen to them next. Space, King of the Alicorns, and Abraxeneus, Queen of the Dragons, decided that there was only one way to stop all the fighting: there had to be one ruler for both species. Their plan was to create such an heir from both species, who would rule once they were gone."

"Space . . . you mean Princess Celestia's father?"

"Yes; he was my father as well. I was conceived, and all were ready to accept me as the rightful ruler. Until the species united, fighting an enemy whose name has escaped even my knowledge. By the time I was born I was considered a gross abomination, cast out by both species and accepted by neither. The dragons went over to each governing him or herself, and Space had his own heirs."

"So you're trying to tell me that you're Princess Celestia's older sister? I don't believe it."

"You should. My traitor sisters know the truth, at any rate. I've been building up to this moment for years. Envy and the rest of the Elements of Discord have been searching high and low for other species that despise the Equestrian system of government, and we've been bringing them in with us for quite some time now."

"Elements of Discord? What-"

"The last of Discord's cultists, named after the Seven Great Failings of Ponykind. Their devotion to him has rendered them just as ageless as I am, and granted them powers that no normal pony could comprehend."

"So, you have an army of worgs and are going to . . . ?"

"It's more than worgs, my dear girl. And besides, I'm not going to tell you _everything_; it'll ruin the surprise. I will let you in on a little secret, though. My followers are rewarded with the gifts of dragon power. Take my dracoworgs for example. I simply perform certain rituals on normal worgs, and they come out as fresh new creations, ready for whatever I tell them to do. We're trying to see how it works on ponies. Here, we're at the ritual room; let's see how your little friend is doing."

They were on a balcony that looked out upon a large room with a mystic circle inscribed in the center. Several worgs stood chanting around the circle, which was glowing bright enough to obscure what was inside it. When the light cleared and the chanting stopped, Twilight saw a horrific sight. Reginius was standing there, but he had changed. Scaly spines were poking out of his flanks and shoulders, and a similarly scaly tail was peeking out from between the hairs of his normal tail. The feathers on his wings had started to pick up a scaly sheen to them, and a pair of tiny horns had sprouted from his forehead. He started screaming, and Lady Draco tut-tutted to herself.

"That was _not_ what I wanted. Oh well, looks like it's back to the drawing board. I guess we'll just have to put him down."

"NO!" Twilight seemed to have shocked Lady Draco out of her studious thought-process. "Send him home with me. He has a family, and friends! You can't take him away from them like that."

"I see. Despite your pretensions as a scholar, you retain your emotional connections. Very interesting. Very well, you may have the freak, as he's no good to me. Now you must leave; I have an escort prepared to take you back to the foothills. Oh, and tell Cellie to watch her back. Wouldn't want her getting complacent, now would I?"

A full squad of the Royal Guard was waiting at the start of the path when Twilight and Reginius arrived, surrounded by a large pack of worgs. The pegasi all tensed when the worgs got close to them, and a few of the worgs started snarling at the guards. Twilight watched this, helpless to stop it. She'd wanted Ripjaw to escort them alone, but Lady Draco had disallowed that; she seemed to realize that Ripjaw's reaction probably wouldn't put the guards on edge like other worgs would. She pushed through the pack, leading Reginius with her to the guards.

"Yes, run back to your kind, pony. But the day will come when they cannot protect you any longer. That will be the day of the dragon's chosen, when the ponies are forced into the state of servitude they deserve."

"Silence, mongrel! Your mad dreams will not come to-"

"Stop, please!" Twilight couldn't take any more of this. "We have to work together, _now_, before something terrible happens!"

The head worg started laughing, turning around and leading his pack back into the mountains. Twilight bowed her head, worried about what was to come. At a prompting from one of the guards she turned around and followed them. She had to tell Princess Celestia. She had to tell her everything.


	2. Chapter 2

My Little Pony and all characters contained therein are the property of the Hasbro Corporation.

This chapter and the next five occur at roughly the same time; there's just way too much information to break it up between what each of the Mane Six are doing and still keep it as one chapter.

**Lady Draco's Revenge**

Chapter Two

It seemed so weird that Canterlot was still bustling about like nothing was going on. But then again, they didn't know what was waiting in the mountains, did they? They didn't know about Lady Draco, or the worg alliance, or anything else that she had learned just a few days ago. These were the thoughts circling around in Twilight Sparkle's head as she walked through the city on the way to the palace, flanked by a full squad of the Royal Guard. She felt sorry for Reginius, her companion that had been mutated by one of Lady Draco's rituals; he had been covered with a hooded cloak that hid his draconic additions, and now walked beside her in a daze. She noticed a few ponies staring at them as they got closer to the palace gates; they probably thought she was some kind of fugitive. She didn't have time to worry about that right now though; she had to speak with Princess Celestia immediately.

She was led into the palace, through the public areas and into the royal family's private quarters; she'd never been here before, and would have been ecstatic to be here if it was for any other reason. She aimlessly followed her escorts until they told her to stop, at which point she and Reginius halted; while the head of the guards wandered off to alert Princess Celestia, she looked over at Reginius and saw that he was shaking uncontrollably and muttering something to himself. She was thinking about trying to snap him out of it when the head guard ushered both of them into the room they had been waiting outside.

"She's back! Oh, thank goodness!"

Twilight's friends were all in the room, and most of them rushed her as soon as she walked in the door; the only one that didn't was Rarity, who probably thought it too undignified an act to perform. It was only after Twilight managed to extract herself from her friends that she noticed that both Princesses Celestia and Luna were in the room with them. This was bad; Princess Luna didn't typically involve herself with much of anything, preferring to try and catch up with the changes that had happened in Equestrian society and history during the thousand years that had passed since she had been banished to the moon. If she was here, that meant that they had somehow known something was at the temple. Twilight was extremely upset all of a sudden; when Princess Celestia asked her if she was all right, she sort of exploded into a storm of fury.

"Am I ALL RIGHT! How dare you ask me that? I was captured by that _monster_ you sent me after, and all you have to say is 'Are you all right'? What is wrong with you?"

"Why you little-!"

"Peace, Luna. I wasn't entirely honest with you when I sent you after the temple, Twilight, but I have no idea what monster you might have run into. Was it Pride? Or Greed or Wrath? One of the Elements of Discord?"

"Oh, there was an Element of Discord all right. And he was working with your psycho half-dragon sister!"

"No . . . " Everyone heard the quiver in Princess Celestia's voice when Twilight made the comment about her having another sister. "You can't have . . . Draco is supposed to be dead!"

"Who's Draco?" Applejack was the one to ask the question. "For that matter, what the heck are the three of y'all talking about?"

Princess Celestia seemed too shook up to say anything on the subject, leaving it to Princess Luna to answer the question. She waved a wing, dismissing the guards before she answered; even as she did she constantly surveyed the room, as if looking for eavesdroppers.

"First, I will warn you that, if you tell anyone even a word of what I am about to tell you, you will never be seen or heard from by another Equestrian citizen ever again. Do you understand?"

Everyone nodded, though not all at once; Pinkie Pie was all too eager to be let in on what had to be a fantastic secret and nodded first, while nervous and fearful Fluttershy was last. Satisfied that the group had all agreed to her terms, Luna began her story.

"Lady Draco, as she calls herself, was the result of a failed attempt at a permanent peace between the dragons and ponies. She fervently believes it is her right to rule Equestria, and has tried many times over the years to take control away from us. The last time, about 1200 years ago, she used an artifact called the Crown of Scales to take control of the dragons. Celestia and I used the Elements of Harmony against her before she could unleash her army across Equestria. All we found when we were done was the wreckage of the Crown; we always just assumed she had been disintegrated by the power released by the destruction of the Crown."

"That's horrible. Why would you want to fight your sister? I should get in touch with my sisters again. I wonder what they're-mmph!"

"Thank you," Princess Luna said to Rainbow Dash, who had stuffed her hoof into Pinkie Pie's mouth to get her to shut up. "Now, before we try and figure out what to do, perhaps you, Twilight Sparkle, should tell us what exactly happened to you over the past week."

Twilight began telling her story, starting from when she and Reginius started up into the mountains and carrying on the whole way through to their being escorted to the border by the worgs. Princess Luna stopped her only once, asking Reginius to uncover himself when Twilight described the transformational ritual; she looked unnerved by the sight, and Princess Celestia got shook out of her funk when she saw her subject's new form. Once Twilight finished telling her story both princesses had a quick conference, after which they faced the other ponies with a plan.

"What we need, especially if Lady Draco has them, are allies outside the earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns. We need some of you to be our ambassadors to these species. Neither of us trusts anyone else to handle these duties in the utmost secrecy, do you understand?"

All six ponies signaled or mentioned their understanding of the importance of their prospective jobs. Princess Luna stepped back and let Princess Celestia tell everyone what she wanted them to do. She went first to Rarity.

"Rarity, I would like for you to accompany a member of the royal family to negotiate with the fire ponies. You would be the one doing the actual negotiations; he's just there as a translator. Is that agreeable to you?"

"Of course! He's not a clod, is he?"

"You, Fluttershy," Princess Celestia continued on without answering Rarity's question, "I would like you to travel to the sphinxes on my behalf, and to try and convince them to help us in any way they can."

"Oh, I don't know. It seems so . . . scary, to leave everything behind like that-"

"_Please_, Fluttershy. Sphinxes value humility more than any other virtue. You could easily make friends with them if you go."

"Oh, all right, I guess. If you think it's for the best, that is."

"Very good! Now, we need to send someone to the buffaloes. Maybe-"

"Ooh ooh ooh! I'll do it! I _love_ the buffaloes!"

"All right, then." Princess Celestia looked around hoping for any volunteers, but didn't find any. "Pinkie Pie will go to the buffalo tribes. Now, Twilight, I hesitate to ask another favor from you so soon, but-"

"I'll help in whatever way I can. What do you have left?"

"We need to have access to a full-grown dragon. I know where an ancient wyrm makes his lair, but I must stress how dangerous going to see him is. If you don't want to do this, I can ask-"

"I can handle myself, Princess. You can count on me."

"Thank you, Twilight." Princess Celestia looked over at Rainbow Dash and Applejack, both of whom had not been mentioned as having any special assignment. "Unfortunately, I don't have anything specific for the two of you yet. Can I count on you to be ready in case something comes up?"

"Sure! Just give me a little heads-up so I can get things squared away on the farm first, okay?"

Rainbow Dash blew a lock of her mane out of her face, trying to act nonchalant about not being given an assignment, and muttered a sullen "Yeah, whatever" when prodded. With all the assignments given out the six friends split up, getting ready for whatever they had been told to do or, in the case of Applejack and Rainbow Dash, to go home. There was no time to be lost, not with such a dire threat hanging over Equestria's collective head like this.

Rarity was waiting outside Canterlot's western gate, getting a little fed up at having to wait for her royal escort to show up. She'd already had to wait for two days while he "refreshed his language lessons", unable to go home and do some business at her boutique. At least Sweetie Belle was safe, spending the time while she was away with their parents. She would really have liked to have talked to Sweetie Belle before going on this trip, but Princess Celestia had forbidden her to tell anyone else about her mission; the story she'd sent with Spike was that she was going on a spur-of-the-moment vacation, and wouldn't be back for a few days. _Unless my escort doesn't arrive_, she thought, _in which case I'll be back in a few hours_.

"Milady Rarity? Are you ready to leave?"

Rarity turned to see one of the Royal Guard's unicorn soldiers standing next to her. He seemed a little nervous; it was probably nerves at having to escort a member of the royal family to a foreign land. She smiled at him, which calmed him down a little. He shot a magical flare out of his horn and started walking forward. More guards, of all three species, came out at that point; Rarity just decided to slip into the group without incident. She saw a group of earth ponies pulling a closed-off carriage and guessed that her translator was inside it. She slid back through the crowd, easing over to the carriage in the hopes of getting introduced. She rapped on the side of the carriage with her horn, though all that did was earn her a harsh glare from one of the carriers. She decided that she could wait to get to know her companion.

The time came late in the day, when the party stopped for the day. Rarity waited for the ponies carrying the carriage to leave it before walking over. Somehow, not knowing who her escort was made her want to know who it was even more. She stood next to the door, waiting eagerly for her mysterious companion to emerge. The door opened, and all those feelings of anticipation dissolved into a mind-numbing fury when he stepped out of the carriage.

Prince Blueblood was the last pony Rarity had expected to see as an expert in anything even remotely intellectual; given what had happened between them at the Grand Galloping Gala, she would have assumed Princess Celestia wouldn't have had the two of them within a hundred miles of each other. Nevertheless, there he was, blinking his eyes in the light of the setting sun as they adjusted. Rarity couldn't help herself; much like Twilight had done when questioned by Princess Celestia a few days ago, she abandoned her dignity to vent her newfound frustrations.

"This is un-be-LIEVABLE! Of all the people they could send with me, they send a puffed-up popinjay like you! Oh, why me? Why couldn't they have sent someone else with you?"

"Well. If you ask me-"

"No one's asking you!" Rarity turned her head upwards and away from Prince Blueblood, unwilling to look at him another second. Unfortunately for her imperious attitude, her curiosity got the better of her, and she said, "Fine, say what you were going to say."

"Maybe my cousin wants for us to make up with each other after what happened at the Gala. Even if what I did is unforgivable, we should at least _pretend_ to get along while we're negotiating with the fire ponies."

"That . . . sounds about right. I think I can act well enough to make them think we can stand each other. They appreciate good acting, don't they?"

"Oh my, do you have a lot to learn. Stick with me, and I'll teach you everything you need to know."

It had been almost two weeks of travel before Rarity, Prince Blueblood, and their guardians reached the land of the fire ponies. In that time Rarity had learned (surprisingly) a lot about fire ponies from Prince Blueblood. While he'd come off as a preening pretty-boy during the Gala, she was starting to see a deep, intellectual side that she suspected he kept hidden from most other ponies. She hated to admit it, but she was thinking about forgiving him for his behavior during the Gala. She was walking next to him (he'd abandoned the carriage after they'd gotten away from civilization) when her nose filled up with ash and soot. Sneezing, she snorted to clear the debris out of her nostrils; Prince Blueblood noticed her unladylike actions and immediately called for a halting of the procession.

"It looks like we're here. Bring the veils for myself and Miss Rarity immediately!"

Rarity used her magic to wrap the veil around her face; the veil was there to keep the perpetual ash from getting into their lungs and causing problems with their health. She nodded to Prince Blueblood, who had decided not to risk any more lives than was necessary; in keeping with this decision, they were leaving the guards at the border. When he was satisfied that both of them were ready, Prince Blueblood led Rarity into the land of the fire ponies.

Once they got over the rise, Rarity was stunned by the desolate landscape. She knew (from Prince Blueblood) that fire ponies fed on ash, but she had still expected there to be _something_ still alive. The whole plain in front of them was sooty and charred; it was hard to imagine anything that enjoyed living here. In the distance a volcano was erupting, throwing more ash into the sky while lighting the black clouds from beneath with a hideous orange glow.

"It's _awful_. How can they stand to live in a place as ugly as this?"

"Fire ponies aren't what you call particularly aesthetically-minded. They're actually little more than savages, but their fire powers and sheer strength would be very useful."

"But they're _horrible_, especially if they live in such a hideous homeland. Where are they, anyway?"

"We should run into a patrol of the paranoid little monsters soon, don't worry. Just be pat-what's that?"

Prince Blueblood shoulder-checked Rarity off the blasted road as a cone of fire filled the space where they had been standing just a moment ago. She picked herself up, inwardly bemoaning the black stains now covering her brilliant white coat, and found herself eye-to-eye with the first fire pony she'd ever seen.

The creature was bigger than her by at least a foot, and was actually looking down at her in order to meet her eyes. Its entire coat was black, and its mane . . . its mane, hooves, and eyes were all made of orange flames that flickered and jumped around, just like flames were supposed to do. Its eyes in particular were hypnotic, enthralling her with the random jumps and flickers the flames did naturally. She just wanted to stare into its eyes forever . . . and then a series of roars and growls broke through her daze, snapping Rarity back into the real world. She turned and saw that Prince Blueblood was the source of the noise, practically foaming at the mouth in his apparent fury. Just when she was starting to get worried that he had gone mad, the fire pony that had been staring her down responded in the same "language", dribbling fiery spittle from its mouth as it went on. Prince Blueblood stepped over to Rarity, clearly an indicator to the fire pony of something; Rarity decided to ask him about it before anything bad happened.

"What's going on?"

"He's offered to take us to his king. It makes me worried."

"Why are you worried? Don't we want to negotiate with their leader?"

"That's the problem. Fire ponies have chieftains, plural, instead of one leader of any kind. I have a bad feeling about this."

Rarity was about to ask more, but the fire pony roared once before trotting off. Prince Blueblood started after him, and Rarity quickly fell in line with them. Whatever was going on, she had to complete her mission. She wouldn't feel right if she backed out now.

The fire pony led them to an inactive volcano that Rarity had thought was simply a hill. It stopped at a large lump of solidified lave embedded in the side of the mountain, bellowing a roar at the pair of fire ponies standing on the ledge above it. They went back and forth for a few minutes, and Rarity started getting seriously worried that they were going to roast her to cinders and eat her. She was about to have a nervous breakdown when the two fire ponies above grabbed a pair of roughly-made chains with their mouths and pulled them; this opened the pair of doors Rarity had mistaken for a boulder. Their escort jerked its head towards the opening, and both Rarity and Prince Blueblood entered cautiously.

The lava tube led to the hollowed-out center of the volcano, which was where the leader would be expected to be. A few holes were studded in the cooled magma, where lava bubbled and jumped in beautifully deadly patterns. A circle of flattened lumps held several fire ponies; these ones looked even bigger than the ones they had encountered so far, and were wearing collars of magma studded with crystals that Rarity immediately recognized as worthless. They were making noises at the pony in the center of the ring, who was sitting on a throne made of magma.

He (there was no mistaking that he was male) was a unicorn whose coat was bright red, which went well with his equally bright orange mane. Smoke poured out of his nostrils, making Rarity think more on her possible fate as ashy food. His Cutie Mark was a patch of flame that seemed to shift as she looked at it, and he looked downright furious. He was wearing a crown of onyx studded with diamonds, which made her think he was the king Prince Blueblood had heard of from their original escort. He stood up with a stomping of his hoof, which drew magma up through the rock and immediately caused his council to shut up. Rarity stepped forward, trying not to simply faint from sheer terror, and started to deliver her prepared speech (or at least, what she remembered of it).

"Erm . . . we c-c-c-come from Equestria. We would like to-"

"EQUESTRIA!" The unicorn roared the word like a curse. "What need do we have for Equestria? Give me one good reason, or I'll feed you to my minions!"

"You're one of them, aren't you?" Prince Blueblood had stepped forward, speaking for a terrified Rarity. "An Element of Discord . . . you're Lust, aren't you?"

"IMPUDENT FOOL!" He seemed even angrier now, as though not being recognized for who he was had been the gravest of insults. "Lust is a simpering fool with no recognition for true greatness! I am Wrath, the Ever-Burning! I command-" and then he started roaring and growling, frothing saliva instead of the flames that his fire pony minions expelled. Prince Blueblood's eyes widened, and he finally started to look the slightest bit afraid.

"We have to get out of here, now!"

Rarity didn't question him, turning and galloping as fast as she could. She could hear furious roars and whinnies echoing through the tunnels as she fled, and she decided to ask Prince Blueblood what Wrath had said that had spooked him so much. She didn't like the answer.

"He told the fire pony chieftains to give us a ten-minute head start before they run us to ground and roast us alive! We have to move as fast as possible, or else we'll end up lining a fire pony's stomach!"

Rarity didn't stop; her sheer terror drove her to keep moving even when her gut reaction was to curl up in a ball and shut down. She did start crying though, barely able to see through the tears streaming down her face. It seemed like no time at all before the sounds of dreadful roaring started up behind her, and the crashing of burning hooves on the burnt-out ground came soon after. She galloped faster than she ever had before, but she was quickly running out of energy. She stumbled and fell, rolling in the ash until her entire coat and mane were black. She tried to push herself up, but Prince Blueblood pushed her back down.

"If you stay still they won't be able to tell you apart from the ground! I'll distract them, and you get out of here! Don't argue! Tell my cousins that I did the right thing in the end."

Before Rarity could protest, Prince Blueblood took off away from her, roaring what she assumed were taunts to the fire ponies. She could hear the crackling thunder of their hooves drift off as they followed him. Once she was sure that she could walk again, Rarity slowly picked herself up and started galloping again. She _had_ to get back to Canterlot, even if it was only to inform Princesses Celestia and Luna of what had happened to their cousin. It took her a while to realize that she was still crying, though it wasn't fear that was making her do it this time. It was the fact that she'd lost someone that had meant more to her than she had realized. In the end, Prince Blueblood hadn't been nearly as bad as she'd thought; he'd actually been pretty nice. She had to remember him as the thoughtful intellectual from now on; it would be a dishonor to think of him as anything else.

Wrath was furious. He was always furious, but he was more furious now than he had been in a long time. The useless beasts he'd come to conquer hadn't killed the victims he'd lined up for them. One of them had "disappeared" (which was their way of saying that they had lost her), and the other one was standing in front of him. The fire pony hunters that had brought him in had told him, in their own way, that the impudent whelp had an offer for him. _If nothing else_, he thought to himself, _I can torch him for insulting me earlier_. He had to fight the smile that came when he saw the image that sprang to his head; it would hurt his position to show amusement.

"It's _you_, the ignorant one. What are you still doing here? I distinctly recall ordering my fire ponies to burn you into oblivion."

"I told them I could offer their boss something he might want. Although I think _your_ boss would appreciate it more than a blunt instrument like you ever could."

"I have no boss." Pride didn't own him; she was too busy feeling sorry for herself to hope to control him. "Goodbye, ignorant little fool. I command you-" and he started into the roars that meant to unleash an inferno on this annoyance; before he could get truly started, someone behind him interrupted him.

"It's time, Wrath." Wrath turned to see Envy, who didn't look any better than the last time he'd seen him. "Someone has finally come forward with a vision. She wants everyone to come in on this."

"I don't care. This is my realm, and I want nothing to do with the outside. Leave me, now."

"You don't have a choice. You come with me, or she comes and takes your precious fire ponies away from you. Bring your minions with you, if you like; she'll need all the troops she can get. Oh, and the fop there, he comes too. I heard enough of his speech to want to hear what he has to say."

Wrath thought about immolating Envy right here and now; aside from Lust, and possibly Sloth, there was no Element of Discord he despised more. He immediately reconsidered when the two monstrosities came out of the shadows and flanked Envy. Whatever these reptilian monsters were, they looked more than adequate to take him apart if he tried anything. Growling inwardly, Wrath barked out orders in the fire ponies' language. _This had better be good_, he thought, _or else I _will_ destroy them for interfering with me one too many times._


End file.
